JP6901933B2 - A transport mechanism, a medium processing device equipped with the transport mechanism, and a transport method. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transfer mechanism and a technique for preventing damage to a conveyed object.

The following Patent Document 1 discloses a card processing device that conveys a card by a roller.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-17131

In the card processing apparatus of Patent Document 1, the cards are conveyed by sandwiching the cards with rollers and sending them out. In this way, in a mechanism that applies force to a transported object with a transport member such as a roller to protect the transported object or the mechanism itself, the transport operation is stopped when a transport abnormality such as clogging of the transported object occurs. A motor with a sufficient output is used.

On the other hand, when a high-power motor is used for the transport mechanism to increase the processing speed, tooth skipping of the gears included in the power transmission member and slippage between the transport member and the transported object occur due to the transport abnormality, and the transport mechanism and transport There is a risk of damage to objects. Therefore, it is conceivable to set an upper limit torque for the motor so that tooth skipping or slipping does not occur even when there is a transport abnormality. However, when the transport members are arranged at a plurality of locations on the transport path, the torque at which tooth skipping or slip occurs differs depending on the position on the transport path and the transport direction of the transported object, and the conditions depend on the structure of the transport mechanism. There is a problem.

In view of the above problems, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a transport mechanism capable of achieving both high transport performance and protection of the transported object and the mechanism itself, a medium processing device using the same, and a transport method. It is in.

In order to solve the above problems, the transport mechanism of the present invention includes a transport path that is a passage through which the transported object is transported, a transport member that moves the transported object along the transport path, and a motor that drives the transport member. A control unit that controls the output torque of the motor, a transport state specifying means that specifies a transport state that is a position and / or a transport direction of the transported object in the transport path, and an output torque that is allowed for the motor. The upper limit torque information, which is the upper limit value or the parameter value required for calculating the upper limit value, includes a storage unit registered for each type of the transport state, and the control unit is specified by the transport state specifying means. Based on the transport state, the upper limit torque information corresponding to the transport state is acquired from the storage unit, and the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor is dynamically switched.

By providing a storage unit in which the upper limit torque information is registered for each type of transport state of the transported object and a transport state specifying means capable of specifying the transported state of the loaded transported object, the control unit transports the transported object. It is possible to switch the upper limit torque of the motor according to the change of the state. As a result, even when a high-power motor that continues to drive even if a transfer abnormality occurs is used, the upper limit of the output torque is not limited to the minimum value in the entire mechanism, and the transfer capacity and the transfer mechanism and the conveyed object are not limited. It can be compatible with protection.

Further, the control unit can estimate the output torque of the motor from the rotation speed and the voltage value of the motor based on the torque characteristics of the motor, and the control unit can estimate the output torque allowed for the motor. It is preferable to adjust the voltage applied to the motor so as not to exceed the upper limit value.

Since the control unit can estimate the output torque of the motor from the rotation speed and the voltage value and can control the voltage applied to the motor, the control unit monitors the output torque of the motor while monitoring the output torque of the motor. It is possible to control the output torque so that it does not exceed the upper limit value.

Further, the motor is a DC motor, the control unit controls the voltage applied to the motor by a pulse width modulation method, and the control unit does not exceed the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor. It is preferable to adjust the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor.

It is considered that many DC motors used in a general transfer mechanism have their rotation speeds controlled by a pulse width modulation method. Therefore, by controlling the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the DC motor to limit the output torque of the motor, it is possible to efficiently implement the protection function of the present invention by utilizing the existing transfer mechanism.

Further, the transport state specifying means has a detector for detecting that the transported object has reached a predetermined position on the transport path, and it is preferable that a plurality of the detectors are arranged on the transport path. ..

For example, it is not impossible to estimate the transport state of the transported object by counting the number of rotations of the motor after loading the transported object or measuring the time, but detectors are arranged at multiple locations in the transport path. As a result, the actual transport state of the transported object can be fed back, and the transported state of the transported object can be specified with higher accuracy.

Further, the transport member has a transport roller which is a pair of rotating bodies that sandwich and deliver the transported object, and the transport roller includes a drive roller that is rotated by the driving force of the motor and rotation of the drive roller. Alternatively, it is preferably composed of a driven roller that rotates following the sliding of the conveyed object.

When a transport member that directly contacts the transported object and applies force, such as the transport roller of this configuration, is used, when a transport abnormality such as clogging of the transport object occurs, the transport object is damaged by the force applied to the transport member. There is a risk of In particular, since the transport roller having this configuration is a mechanism for feeding the transported object by frictional force, scratches may remain on the surface of the transported object when slip occurs. On the other hand, in the transport mechanism of the present invention, since the output torque of the motor is limited according to the transport state of the transported object, slip of the transport roller can be prevented even if a transport abnormality occurs. As a result, it is possible to achieve both reliable transmission of the conveying force to the conveyed object and protection of the conveyed object.

Further, the transport member has a plurality of sets of the transport rollers, and it is preferable that the motor drives a plurality of the drive rollers by one unit.

In order to set the upper limit torque according to the transport state of the transported object, for example, when a dedicated motor is provided for each transport member, the mechanism becomes larger as the number of motors increases, the power consumption increases, and the assembly man-hours increase. , There is concern about an increase in manufacturing costs. On the other hand, since the transfer mechanism of the present invention can dynamically switch the upper limit torque of the motor, it is possible to control a plurality of transfer members with one unit. As a result, it is possible to realize precise torque control according to the transport state while suppressing the number of mounted motors.

Further, it is preferable that the power transmission member further includes a power transmission member for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the drive roller, and the power transmission member includes a toothed belt.

When a toothed belt is used as the power transmission member of the transport mechanism, if the synchronization of each power transmission member is impaired due to a transport abnormality such as clogging of the transported object, the tension of the toothed belt is disturbed, and the toothed belt and its meshing member are disturbed. There is a risk of tooth skipping. On the other hand, the transport mechanism of the present invention can switch the upper limit torque of the motor according to the transport state of the transported object, so that the operation of the transport member, that is, the operation of the power transmission member is stopped before tooth skipping occurs. Can be made to. This makes it possible to deal with the structural constraint of the toothed belt that the tension needs to be kept constant.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the medium processing apparatus of the present invention includes the conveying mechanism of the present invention, the conveyed object is a card-shaped information recording medium, and processing for reading information recorded on the information recording medium. , Or an information processing unit capable of executing at least one of the processing of writing information to the information recording medium.

By providing the transport mechanism of the present invention, even when a high-power motor that continues to drive even if a transport abnormality occurs is used, the upper limit of the output torque is not limited to the minimum value in the entire mechanism, and a high transport capacity is achieved. It is possible to achieve both protection of the mechanism itself and the information recording medium.

Further, it is preferable that the transport member moves the transported object at a constant speed.

When reading the information recorded on the information recording medium or writing the information on the information recording medium, it is necessary to move the information recording medium at a constant speed that can be processed by the information processing unit.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the transport method of the present invention drives a transport path, which is a passage through which the transported object is transported, a transport member that moves the transported object along the transport path, and the transport member. It is necessary to calculate the upper limit value or the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor, the transport state specifying means for specifying the position and / or the transport state of the transported object in the transport path, and the motor. The upper limit torque information, which is a parameter value, is a transport method using a transport mechanism including a storage unit registered for each type of transport state, and the transport state of the transported object is specified by the transport state specifying means. Allowed by the motor based on the transfer state specifying step to be performed, the upper limit torque information acquisition step of acquiring the upper limit torque information according to the transfer state from the storage unit, and the upper limit torque information according to the transfer state. It is characterized by including an upper limit torque setting step for switching the upper limit value of the output torque.

The transport mechanism is provided with a storage unit in which upper limit torque information is registered for each type of transport state of the transported object, and a transport state specifying means capable of specifying the transported state of the loaded transported object. It is possible to dynamically switch the upper limit torque of the motor according to the change in the transport state of the motor. As a result, even when a high-power motor that continues to drive even if a transfer abnormality occurs is used, the upper limit of the output torque is not limited to the minimum value in the entire mechanism, and the transfer capacity and the transfer mechanism and the conveyed object are not limited. It can be compatible with protection.

Further, the transport method of the present invention does not exceed the upper limit voltage calculation step of calculating the upper limit voltage applicable to the motor from the rotation speed of the motor based on the torque characteristics of the motor and the upper limit value of the output torque. As described above, it is preferable to further include a torque adjusting step for adjusting the voltage applied to the motor.

The output torque of the motor can be estimated from the number of revolutions and the voltage value, and the voltage applied to the motor can be controlled, so that the output torque does not exceed the upper limit while monitoring the output torque of the motor. It is possible to limit the torque.

Further, the motor is a DC motor in which the applied voltage is controlled by a pulse width modulation method, and in the torque adjusting step, the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor is adjusted so as not to exceed the upper limit value of the output torque. It is preferable to do so.

It is considered that many DC motors used in a general transfer mechanism have their rotation speeds controlled by a pulse width modulation method. Therefore, by controlling the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the DC motor to limit the output torque of the motor, it is possible to efficiently implement the protection function of the present invention by utilizing the existing transfer mechanism.

Further, the transport member has a plurality of sets of transport rollers which are a pair of rotating bodies that sandwich and deliver the transported object, and each of the transport rollers includes a drive roller that rotates by the driving force of the motor and the drive roller. It is composed of a driven roller that rotates following the rotation of the roller or the sliding of the conveyed object, and it is preferable that the motor drives a plurality of the driving rollers by one unit.

In the transport method of the present invention, since the output torque of the motor is limited according to the transport state of the transported object, slip of the transport roller can be prevented even if a transport abnormality occurs. Further, in the transport method of the present invention, since the upper limit torque of the motor can be dynamically switched, it is possible to control a plurality of transport members with one unit. As a result, it is possible to realize precise control of the upper limit torque according to the transport state while suppressing the number of mounted motors.

Further, it is preferable that the transport mechanism further includes a power transmission member that transmits the driving force of the motor to the drive roller, and the power transmission member includes a toothed belt.

In the transport method of the present invention, the upper limit torque of the motor can be switched according to the transport state of the transported object. Therefore, the operation of the transport member, that is, the operation of the power transmission member can be stopped before the tooth skipping occurs. This makes it possible to deal with the structural constraint of the toothed belt that the tension needs to be kept constant.

Further, the transported object is a card-shaped information recording medium, and an information processing step of executing at least one of a process of reading information recorded on the information recording medium and a process of writing information to the information recording medium. It is preferable to further include.

By using the transfer method of the present invention, high information processing is performed without limiting the upper limit value of the output torque to the minimum value in the entire mechanism even when a high output motor that continues to drive even if a transfer abnormality occurs is used. It is possible to achieve both performance and protection of the information recording medium.

As described above, according to the transport mechanism of the present invention, the medium processing device using the same, and the transport method, it is possible to achieve both high transport performance and protection of the transported object and the mechanism itself.

It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the card reader which concerns on embodiment. It is a side view sectional view of a card reader. It is a top view sectional view of a card reader. It is a figure explaining the method of specifying the carrying state of a card. It is a figure explaining the method of suppressing the output torque of a motor below a set upper limit value. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of processing with time of the protection function provided in the transport mechanism.

[Outline of configuration]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the transport mechanism, information processing medium, and transport method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The card reader of the present embodiment is a medium processing device that reads data recorded on a card, which is an information recording medium, and records data on the card. For example, an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine), a cash dispenser, or a kiosk terminal. , Distribution POS (Point of sale system) terminals, entry / exit management terminals, various ID card terminals, etc., which are incorporated and used in higher-level devices that process card recording information.

The card used in this embodiment is made of vinyl chloride and is a rectangular card having a thickness of 0.7 to 0.8 mm. The card has a built-in IC chip on which electronic data is recorded, and the terminal of the IC chip is exposed on one surface of the card. Further, a magnetic stripe on which magnetic data is recorded is attached to the other surface of the card. The card may include only one of these IC chips and magnetic stripes.

(Functional configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the card reader 910. The function of the card reader 910 of the present embodiment is mainly composed of a transport mechanism 100 that transports the card C, which is a transport object, and an information processing unit 200 that processes the recorded information of the card C.

A host device 900 is connected to the external I / F (Interface) 190 of the card reader 910, and the card reader 910 sends and receives commands and data to and from the host device 900. For the connection between the card reader 910 and the host device 900, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or a connection cable compatible with so-called RS-232C can be used.

The transport mechanism 100 uses a DC motor 110 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "motor 110") as a drive source, and the operation of the motor 110 is managed by a control device 130 which is a control unit of the card reader 910. An encoder 111 is mounted on the motor 110, and the pulse signal (encoder pulse) thereof is fed back to the drive circuit 115 of the motor 110 and the control device 130. Further, power is supplied to the drive circuit 115 and the control device 130 from the power supply circuit 170, and the control device 130 constantly monitors the voltage value applied to the motor 110 by the power supply circuit 170 and the drive circuit 115.

The control device 130 of this example is composed of a general microcontroller, FPGA, CPLD, or logic circuit. The control device 130 is a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controller that controls the rotation speed of the motor 110 via a CPU 131 that is a central processing unit, a memory 132 that is a storage device such as a ROM, a RAM, and a flash memory, and a drive circuit 115. It has 133 and. The PWM controller 133 may be included in the CPU, FPGA, and CPLD. The memory 132 is a storage unit of the present invention. A control program 132a, which is a program for controlling the operation of the entire card reader 910, such as monitoring and driving the transport mechanism 100 and signal processing of the card C, is loaded in the memory 132. Further, the memory 132 has a motor characteristic coefficient 132c which is a value indicating the torque characteristic in the specifications of the DC motor 110, and an upper limit torque table 132b in which the upper limit torque information L described later is registered.

The transport path 140, which is a passage through which the card C is transported, is provided with three sets of transport rollers 120, four photosensors 150, a lever switch 160, and an information processing unit 200.

The transport roller 120 is a transport member that advances and retreats the card C along the transport path 140. Each set of the transport rollers 120 is a pair of rotating bodies that sandwich and send out the card C, and follow the rotation of the drive rollers 120a that rotate by the driving force of the motor 110 and the rotation of the drive rollers 120a or the sliding of the card C. It is composed of a driven roller 120b that rotates by means of a driven roller 120b.

The photosensor 150 and the lever switch 160, together with the control program 132a, constitute a transport state specifying means D for specifying the transport state S, which is the position and transport direction of the card C in the transport path 140. The photo sensor 150 and the lever switch 160 are detectors that detect that the card C has reached a predetermined position on the transport path 140.

The information processing unit 200, together with the control program 132a, executes at least one of a process of reading information recorded on the card C and a process of writing information to the card C. The information processing unit 200 of this embodiment includes a magnetic head 210 and an IC contact block 220. The magnetic head 210 reads and writes magnetic data by contacting and sliding on the magnetic stripe of the card C. The IC contact block 220 contacts the IC chip terminal of the card C to read and write electronic data.

(Physical configuration)
2 and 3 are schematic views showing the internal mechanism of the card reader 910. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the card reader 910. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the card reader 910 in a plan view. In the following description, "upper" and "lower" mean the vertical direction on the Z axis of the coordinate axis display drawn in FIGS. 1 and 2. Further, the card reader 910, the "front", the coordinate axis display X ₁ side, the "back" are meant X ₂ side, respectively, and "width" in the Y-axis direction in the coordinate axis display It means dimensions.

The transport path 140 of the card reader 910 extends in the front-rear direction of the card reader 910. An insertion port 141 communicating with the transport path 140 is provided on the front surface of the card reader 910. The passage width of the transport path 140 is determined by guide portions 142, which are a pair of side plates provided on both sides of the transport path 140. The aisle width of the transport path 140 is substantially the same as the width of the card C, which prevents the card C from tilting in the width direction.

The transfer roller 120 is composed of a first roller 121, a second roller 122, and a third roller 123 arranged in order from the front side to the rear side of the transfer path 140. The first roller 121 includes a driving roller 121a and a driven roller 121b, which are arranged immediately after the insertion port 141. The second roller 122 includes a driving roller 122a and a driven roller 122b, which are arranged substantially at the center of the transport path 140 in the front-rear direction. The third roller 123 includes a driving roller 123a and a driven roller 123b, which are arranged slightly behind the center of the range from the second roller 122 to the rear end of the transport path 140. The "drive roller 120a" is a general term for the drive rollers 121a, 122a, 123a, and the "driven roller 120b" is a general term for the driven roller driven roller 121b, the driven roller 122b, and the driven roller 123b.

The power transmission member that transmits the driving force of the motor 110 to the driving roller 120a includes the toothed belts 131 and 132. The output of the motor 110 is first transmitted to the large-diameter gear portion 126b, which is a gear portion provided on the shaft body 126 that supports the drive roller 122a, via the toothed belt 131. The shaft body 126 is also provided with a small-diameter gear portion 126a, which is a gear portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large-diameter gear portion 126b, and the small-diameter gear portion 126a rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the large-diameter gear portion 126b. The shaft body 125 that supports the drive roller 121a and the shaft body 127 that supports the drive roller 123a are also provided with gear portions 125a and 127a, respectively. The small-diameter gear portion 126a of the shaft body 126 of the drive roller 122a and the gear portions 125a, 127a of the shaft bodies 125, 127 of the drive roller 121a and the drive roller 123a are connected by a toothed belt 132, and these are interlocked with each other. And rotate. Tensioners 134 and 135 of the toothed belt 132 are arranged in front of and behind the drive roller 122a, whereby a constant tension is applied to the toothed belt 132.

The shaft body 128 that supports the driven roller 121b and the shaft body 129 that supports the driven roller 122b are also provided with gear portions 128a and 129a, respectively, and these gear portions 128a and 129a are connected by a toothed belt 133. ing. The shaft body 128 of the driven roller 121b is continuous with the hand-cranked handle 128c provided outside the housing of the card reader 910, and the power transmission mechanism of the hand-cranked handle 128c and the driven rollers 121b and 122b is manually operated from the card reader 910. It is used when ejecting the card C.

In this way, the drive rollers 121a, 122a, 123a of the transport mechanism 100 are all driven by a single motor 110.

A photo sensor 150 and a lever switch 160, which are detectors for detecting that the card C has reached a predetermined position in the transport path 140, are provided in the transport path 140. The lever switch 160 is arranged at the insertion slot 141. The photo sensor 150 is composed of four photo sensors 151 to 154, the photo sensor 151 is located near the first roller 121, the photo sensors 152 and 153 are located near the second roller 122, and the photo sensor 154 is located near the third roller 123. Have been placed.

The lever switch 160 includes a lever portion 161 and a switch portion 162, and the ON / OFF state of the switch portion 162 can be mechanically switched by operating the lever portion 161. A part of the lever portion 161 projects into the transport path 140, and when the card C is inserted into the insertion port 141, the lever portion 161 is pushed out of the transport path 140 by the card C. As a result, the state of the switch unit 162 is switched to ON, and the presence of the card C is detected.

The photosensor 150 is an optical sensor composed of a combination of a light emitting diode, which is a light emitting element (not shown), and photosensors 151 to 154, which are light receiving elements. Detect arrival. The detectors that can be used as the transport state specifying means D are not limited to these, and for example, magnetic sensors and ultrasonic sensors can also be used. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the restriction that magnetic sensors are easily affected by the magnetic environment inside the device, and ultrasonic sensors are easily affected by temperature and humidity.

A magnetic head 210 and an IC contact block 220, which are information processing units 200, are also provided in the transport path 140. The magnetic head 210 is arranged on the lower surface side of the transport path 140 and comes into contact with the magnetic stripe of the card C from below. The IC contact block 220 is arranged on the upper surface side of the transport path and comes into contact with the IC chip terminal of the card C from above. Further, in the insertion slot 141, a pre-head 211, which is a magnetic head that determines whether the card C is a proper card or an invalid card from the magnetic information of the card C, is arranged. Since the existence of the card C can be specified by the information processing unit 200 and the prehead 211, it is also possible to use them as a part of the transport state specifying means D.

The card C whose existence has been confirmed by the lever switch 160 is opened by a shutter (not shown) provided in the insertion slot 141 only when the magnetic data is inspected by the prehead 211 and it is determined that the card is appropriate. As a result, the motor 110, that is, the transfer mechanism 100 is started, the card C is pulled into the transfer path 140 by the transfer roller 120, and the information processing unit 200 reads the information recorded on the card C or writes the information to the card C. I do. During this time, the transport state S of the card C is monitored by the transport state specifying means D. Further, at this time, the transport roller 120 transports the card C at a constant speed that can be processed by the information processing unit 200. After the reading or writing of the information is completed, the card C is ejected from the insertion slot 141 by the transport roller 120.

The card reader 910 includes various mechanical parts and electrical parts (not shown) in addition to the above physical configuration.

[Protective function]
Hereinafter, the protection function of the card C and the transport mechanism 100 in the transport mechanism 100 will be described.

(Transport status identification function)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of specifying the transport state S of the card C among the protection functions of the transport mechanism 100. In the present embodiment, the transport state S of the card C is specified by monitoring the output values of the lever switch 160 and the photo sensors 151 to 154 with the control program 132a. As described above, the "conveyed state S" in the present embodiment means the position and the transport direction of the card C in the transport path 140.

Here, there are two types of "transportation direction" of the card C, "forward direction" and "reverse direction". The "forward direction" is a direction in which the card C is drawn into the transport path 140 from the insertion slot 141. The "reverse direction" is the direction in which the card C in the transport path 140 is ejected from the insertion port 141. Of these, FIG. 4 shows an example of “forward direction”. The determination of "forward direction" and "reverse direction" can be specified in the direction in which the control program 132a rotates the motor 110. Further, it can be specified in advance according to the type of transport processing to be executed (for example, card C pull-in processing, discharge processing, etc.).

Further, in the present embodiment, the "position" of the card C is distinguished based on the relative position between the card C and each of the transport rollers 120. More specifically, the type of "position" of the card C in the present embodiment is the position of the first roller 121 and the position of the second roller 122 according to the range in which each transfer roller 120 is the transfer main body of the card C. , And the position of the third roller 123.

When the card C is inserted into the insertion slot 141, the lever switch 160 is switched to the ON state by the card C, whereby the presence of the card C is detected. Then, when the pre-head 211 arranged in the insertion port 141 confirms that the card C is appropriate, a shutter (not shown) is released, and the card C is started to be drawn into the transport path 140. At this time, the card C is at the position of the first roller 121 (FIG. 4A).

As the first roller 121 pulls the card C into the transport path 140, the photo sensor 151 arranged near the first roller 121 detects the arrival of the card C. At this time as well, the card C is at the position of the first roller 121 (FIG. 4 (b)).

When the card C reaches the photosensor 152 arranged near the second roller 122, it is determined that the transporting body of the card C has switched from the first roller 121 to the second roller 121 (FIG. 4C). Then, the card C is sent out toward the third roller 123 with the second roller 121 as the transport main body (FIGS. 4 (d) and 4 (e)).

After that, the photo sensor 154 detects the arrival of the card C, and when the card C separates from the photo sensor 153, it is determined that the carrier of the card C has switched from the second roller 122 to the third roller 123 (FIG. FIG. 4 (f)).

Another method for specifying the transport state S of the card C is to estimate the change in the transport state S by, for example, counting the rotation speed of the motor 110 after inserting the card C or measuring the time. Is not impossible. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the lever switch 160 and the photosensors 151 to 154 are arranged in the transport path 140, the actual transport state S of the card C can be fed back to the control device 130, so that the transport state of the card C can be fed back. It is possible to identify S with higher accuracy.

In the present embodiment, the position of the card C is distinguished by the relative position with each transfer roller 120, but the type of the position of the card C is defined as the point where the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor 110 changes. It does not necessarily have to be associated with the position of the transport roller 120.

(Upper limit torque switching function)
When a transport member such as the transport roller 120 that directly contacts the card C and applies a force is adopted, when a transport abnormality such as clogging of the card C occurs, the card C is subjected to the force applied by the transport roller 120 to the card C. There is a risk of damage. In particular, since the transport roller 120 of the present embodiment is a mechanism for feeding out the card C by frictional force, scratches may remain on the surface of the card C when slip occurs. Further, in the transport mechanism 100 of the present embodiment, the toothed belts 131 and 132 are included in the power transmission member of the motor 110. Therefore, if the synchronization of each power transmission member is impaired due to a transfer abnormality, the tension of the toothed belts 131 and 132 may be disturbed, and tooth skipping may occur between the toothed belts 131 and 132 and the meshing member thereof. Hereinafter, an operation that may occur due to a transfer abnormality of the card C and may damage the card C or the transfer mechanism 100, such as slip or tooth skipping, is referred to as a “damage operation”. Naturally, the damaging motion is not limited to slipping and tooth skipping, and other damaging motions may occur due to the structural features of the transport mechanism.

Due to such concerns, it is necessary to set an upper limit value for the output torque of the motor 110 so that a damaged operation can be avoided even if a transfer abnormality of the card C occurs. However, there is a problem that the torque at which the damage operation occurs differs depending on the transport state S of the card C, and when a single upper limit value is set for the entire mechanism, the upper limit of the output torque allowed in each transport state S is set. It must be set to the minimum value among the values (hereinafter, simply referred to as "upper limit torque"). In this case, even if a high-power motor is used to increase the processing speed, a part of its effect will be impaired.

On the other hand, in the upper limit torque table 132b included in the control device 130 of the present embodiment, the upper limit torque information L, which is the upper limit torque of the motor 110, is registered for each type of the transport state S of the card C. As a result, the control device 130 can dynamically switch the upper limit torque according to the transport state S of the card C. The following is the actual registered contents of the upper limit torque table 132b in the present embodiment. Although the upper limit torque information L of the present embodiment directly represents the upper limit torque, the upper limit torque information L may be a parameter value for calculating the upper limit torque.

In the present embodiment, when each upper limit torque is exceeded during transport in the forward direction, tooth skipping occurs at the position of the first roller 121, slip occurs at the position of the second roller 122, and slip occurs at the position of the third roller 123. Occurs. When each upper limit torque is exceeded during transportation in the opposite direction, slip occurs at the position of the first roller 121, slip occurs at the position of the second roller 122, and tooth skipping occurs at the position of the third roller 123. This depends on the structural characteristics of the transport mechanism 100, and it is considered that the damage operation of the other transport mechanism and its upper limit torque are different from this. For example, when the power transmission member of the motor is composed only of gears and does not include a toothed belt or pulley, when the number and arrangement of transfer rollers are different, or when a transfer member other than the transfer roller is used. The upper limit torque is different from the value in Table 1. Therefore, the upper limit torque information L needs to be set by acquiring an actually measured value for each model of the transport mechanism.

Further, the upper limit torque may not change in the forward direction and the reverse direction, for example, as in the upper limit torque of the position of the second roller 122 in Table 1. For example, if the upper limit torque does not change in the forward direction and the reverse direction in all types of position classification, the upper limit torque may be set simply based on the position of the transported object. Further, in the present embodiment, the control device 130 of the card reader 910 has the upper limit torque table 132a, but the upper limit torque table 132a may be arranged in the upper device 900. Further, the entire control device 130 may be arranged in the host device 900.

(Torque limiting function)
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of suppressing the output torque of the motor 110 to a set upper limit value or less. FIG. 5 shows the operation of the transport mechanism 100 when a card jam occurs. FIG. 5A is a graph showing changes over time in the motor 110 rotation speed. FIG. 5B is a graph showing changes over time in the output torque of the motor 110. FIG. 5C is a graph showing changes over time in the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor 110.

As described above, the control device 130 of the present embodiment can acquire the rotation speed of the motor 110 from the encoder 111 of the motor 110, and can acquire the voltage value of the motor 110 from the drive circuit 115. As a result, the control program 132a of the control device 130 can calculate the output torque of the motor 110 at that time from the rotation speed of the motor 110, the voltage value, and the motor characteristic coefficient 132c.

The motor 110 of the present embodiment is a DC motor, and the control program 132a controls the voltage applied to the motor 110 by a pulse width modulation method. Therefore, the control program 132a can control the output torque of the motor 110 by adjusting the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor 110. Further, the control program 132a can dynamically switch the upper limit torque of the motor 110 by acquiring the upper limit torque according to the transport state S of the card C from the upper limit torque table 132b.

As shown in FIG. 5, when a card jam occurs, the rotation speed of the motor 110 decreases due to the resistance force thereof. Since the control program 132a and the drive circuit 115 try to keep the rotation speed of the motor 110 constant by PID control (other PI control, etc.), they operate in a direction of increasing the rotation speed of the motor 110. That is, the voltage applied to the motor 110 becomes high. On the other hand, as the card clogging becomes more serious and the rotation speed of the motor 110 decreases, the output torque of the motor 110 rises sharply together with the increase in the applied voltage. Here, when the output torque of the motor 110 reaches the upper limit value at that time, the control program 132a suppresses the voltage applied to the motor 110 (in this case, the duty ratio) in order to suppress the output torque to the upper limit value or less.

The method of controlling the output torque of the motor 110 is not limited to the method of manipulating the duty ratio. For example, the motor 110 can be controlled by using a power amplifier or the like to control the voltage applied to the motor 110 or by the static Leonard method. If the upper limit value can be set for each transport state S of the card C by using the variable parameter that influences the output torque of the card C, it can be substituted.

As described above, in the transfer mechanism 100 of the present embodiment, even if a transfer abnormality of the card C occurs, the operation of the transfer roller 120, that is, the operation of the power transmission member can be stopped before the damage operation occurs. As a result, the transport mechanism 100 achieves both reliable transmission of the transport force to the card C by the transport roller 120 and protection of the transport mechanism 100 and the card C without limiting the upper limit torque to the minimum value in the entire mechanism. ing. It also addresses the structural restrictions of the toothed belts 131 and 132 that the tension needs to be kept constant.

In order to set the upper limit torque according to the transport state S of the card C, for example, when a torque limiter mechanism is provided for each drive roller 120a and the upper limit torque is set individually for each drive roller 120a, the number of parts is increased and the upper limit torque is set. There are concerns about the complication of the mechanism, the increase in assembly man-hours, and the increase in manufacturing cost. On the other hand, the transport mechanism 100 of the present embodiment has an advantage that it does not have the above-mentioned disadvantages because the control device 130 has a configuration in which the upper limit torque of the motor 110 is switched according to the transport state S.

Further, in order to set the upper limit torque according to the transport state S of the card C, for example, when a dedicated motor is provided for each drive roller 120a, the mechanism becomes larger and the power consumption increases as the number of motors increases. There are concerns about an increase in assembly man-hours and an increase in manufacturing costs. On the other hand, since the transfer mechanism 100 of the present embodiment can dynamically switch the upper limit torque of the motor 110, one unit can control a plurality of transfer rollers 120. As a result, precise control of the upper limit torque according to the transport state S is realized while suppressing the number of mounted motors.

Further, for example, when switching the output torque of the motor with a current limiting circuit, a plurality of limiting circuits and their switching circuits are required, and there is a concern that the manufacturing cost will increase. On the other hand, since the transport mechanism 100 of the present embodiment adjusts the output torque by operating the voltage applied to the motor 110, it can be controlled by a program and the above-mentioned disadvantages do not occur. Further, it is considered that many DC motors used in a general transfer mechanism have their rotation speeds controlled by a pulse width modulation method. Therefore, by adopting a method of controlling the output torque of the motor by manipulating the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the DC motor, it is possible to efficiently implement the protection function of the present invention by utilizing the existing transfer mechanism. It will be possible.

(Processing flow of protection function)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the protection function included in the transport mechanism 100.

The protection process of the transport mechanism 100 is executed every input of the encoder pulse or every cycle of a fixed time after the start of the transport mechanism 100 (start of the motor 110) (S10).

When the process is started, the control program 132a checks the output values of the lever switch 160 and the photosensors 151 to 154, and acquires the current transport state S of the card C (S20: transport state specifying step). The series of processes in FIG. 6 (hereinafter, also referred to as “routine”) is the processing contents in the forward direction, and in the reverse direction, the processing contents are omitted from the information processing step described later.

At this time, if the magnetic head 210 is in contact with the magnetic stripe of the card C or the IC contact block 220 is in contact with the terminal of the IC chip (S31: Y), the control program 132a is recorded on the card C. The information is read or the information is written to the card C (S32: information processing step).

On the other hand, if the card C is not in a position where the information processing unit 200 can process (S31: N), the control program 132a acquires the upper limit torque according to the transport state S of the card C from the upper limit torque table 132b (S41: Upper limit torque information acquisition step), held as the upper limit torque in this routine (S42: upper limit torque setting step).

After that, the control program 132a acquires the rotation speed of the motor 110 from the encoder 111 of the motor 110, and acquires the voltage value of the motor 110 from the drive circuit 115 (S51). The control program 132a further calculates the upper limit duty ratio in this routine based on the characteristic coefficient 132c of the motor 110 (S52: upper limit voltage calculation step).

Then, the control program 132a inspects the duty ratio set by the PID control of the motor 110 (S60). Here, when the duty ratio based on PID control exceeds the upper limit duty ratio (S71: Y), the upper limit duty ratio is set to the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor 110 in this routine (S72: torque adjustment step). ), Drive the motor 110 (S80).

On the other hand, when the duty ratio based on PID control does not exceed the upper limit duty ratio (S71: N), the motor 110 is driven by the duty ratio based on PID control (S80).

When the transfer of the card C is completed here (S90: N), the motor 110 is stopped to end the operation of the transfer mechanism 100. On the other hand, if the transfer of the card C is not completed (S90: Y), the next execution cycle is waited for (S10).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the transported material of the present invention is not limited to cards. Further, the application of the transport mechanism of the present invention can be applied not only to a card reader but also to a paper feed mechanism such as a facsimile or a printer.

900 High-level device 910 Card reader (media processing device)
100 Conveyance mechanism 110 DC motor (motor)
111 Encoder 115 Drive circuit 121-123 (120) Conveying roller (conveying member)
121a to 123a (120a) Drive rollers 121b to 123b (120b) Driven rollers 131 to 133 Toothed belt (power transmission member)
130 Control device (control unit)
132 Memory (storage unit)
132a Control program 132b Upper limit torque table 132c Motor characteristic coefficient (torque characteristic)
133 PWM controller 140 Transport path 141 Insertion port D Transport state identifying means 151-154 (150) Photo sensor (detector)
160 Switch lever (detector)
170 Power supply circuit 190 External I / F
200 Information processing unit 210 Magnetic head 220 IC contact block C card (conveyed material (information recording medium))

Claims (15)

A transport path, which is a passage through which the transported material is transported,
A transport member that moves the transported object along the transport path, and
The motor that drives the transport member and
A control unit that controls the output torque of the motor,
A transport state specifying means for specifying a transport state that is a position and / or a transport direction of the transported object in the transport path, and
A storage unit in which upper limit torque information, which is an upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor or a parameter value required for calculating the upper limit value, is registered for each type of the transport state is provided.
Based on the transport state specified by the transport state specifying means, the control unit acquires the upper limit torque information corresponding to the transport state from the storage unit, and the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor. A transport mechanism characterized by dynamically switching between. The control unit can estimate the output torque of the motor from the rotation speed and the voltage value of the motor based on the torque characteristics of the motor.
The transfer mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts a voltage applied to the motor so as not to exceed an upper limit value of an output torque allowed for the motor. The motor is a DC motor
The control unit controls the voltage applied to the motor by a pulse width modulation method.
The transfer mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the control unit adjusts the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor so as not to exceed the upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor. The transport state specifying means has a detector that detects that the transported object has reached a predetermined position on the transport path.
The transport mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the detectors are arranged on the transport path. The transport member has a transport roller which is a pair of rotating bodies that sandwich and deliver the transported object.
The claim is characterized in that the transfer roller is composed of a drive roller that rotates by the driving force of the motor and a driven roller that rotates following the rotation of the drive roller or the sliding of the conveyed object. The transport mechanism according to any one of items 1 to 4. The transport member has a plurality of sets of the transport rollers.
The transport mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the motor drives a plurality of the drive rollers by one unit. A power transmission member for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the driving roller is further provided.
The transport mechanism according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the power transmission member includes a toothed belt. A medium processing apparatus including the transport mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The transported object is a card-shaped information recording medium.
A medium processing apparatus further comprising an information processing unit capable of executing at least one of reading processing of information recorded on the information recording medium and writing processing of information on the information recording medium. The medium processing device according to claim 8, wherein the transport member moves the transported object at a constant speed. A transport path, which is a passage through which the transported material is transported,
A transport member that moves the transported object along the transport path, and
The motor that drives the transport member and
A transport state specifying means for specifying a transport state that is a position and / or a transport direction of the transported object in the transport path, and
Transfer using a transfer mechanism including a storage unit in which upper limit torque information, which is an upper limit value of the output torque allowed for the motor or a parameter value required for calculating the upper limit value, is registered for each type of the transfer state. It ’s a method,
A transport state specifying step for specifying the transport state of the transported object by the transport state specifying means,
The upper limit torque information acquisition step of acquiring the upper limit torque information according to the transport state from the storage unit, and
A transport method comprising: an upper limit torque setting step for switching an upper limit value of an output torque allowed for the motor based on the upper limit torque information according to the transport state. An upper limit voltage calculation step for calculating an upper limit voltage that can be applied to the motor from the rotation speed of the motor based on the torque characteristics of the motor.
The transfer method according to claim 10, further comprising a torque adjusting step for adjusting a voltage applied to the motor so as not to exceed the upper limit value of the output torque. The motor is a DC motor in which the applied voltage is controlled by a pulse width modulation method.
The transfer method according to claim 11, wherein in the torque adjusting step, the duty ratio of the voltage applied to the motor is adjusted so as not to exceed the upper limit value of the output torque. The transport member has a plurality of sets of transport rollers, which are a pair of rotating bodies that sandwich and feed the transported object.
Each of the transport rollers is composed of a drive roller that rotates by the driving force of the motor and a driven roller that rotates following the rotation of the drive roller or the sliding of the transported object.
The transport method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the motor drives a plurality of the drive rollers by one unit. The transport mechanism further includes a power transmission member that transmits the driving force of the motor to the driving rollers.
The transport method according to claim 13, wherein the power transmission member includes a toothed belt. The transported object is a card-shaped information recording medium.
Claims 10 to 14 further include an information processing step of executing at least one of a process of reading information recorded on the information recording medium and a process of writing information to the information recording medium. The transport method according to any one of the above.

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